Marketing Pilgrim

Let me start off today’s COJ with a little disclaimer: A lot of what you read in today’s column might be wrong. Because today I am talking about football! And the truth is, I know crap about football. I mean I understand the basics, but beyond that I am kind of useless. For example, today I learned what a onside kick is, thanks to, Coach Kevin Kelley, from Pulaski Academy in Little Rock Arkansas.

That’s because Coach Kelley used the onside kick as part of an odd strategy to score 29 points before their opponents even touched the ball. Apparently, the team was able to use onside kick’s to push the ball down the field, recover them, and then score. They did this 4 times in a row. Allowing for complete control of the football, touchdown, after touchdown. Granted, on their 5th try they failed, but this was an astounding feat for a team that was ranked nearly last and ended up winning big, 64-34.

No matter what numbers we put out there, marketers continue to believe that Twitter and Facebook are worth the effort. So here’s another set that’s loaded with good news and bad news for those who hang their ledgers on social media.

A new report from RichRelevance states that online retail shoppers who clickthrough from Facebook only convert 1.2% of the time. If you think that’s bad, Twitter’s number is only 0.5%.

But don’t delete your Twitter account just yet, because in a strange twist of fate, these shoppers actually spend more money when they do order.

Take a look at the chart on the right. The conversion rates skew from AOL’s 2.9 down to Twitter’s barely there numbers. Now look at the Average Order Value in the last column. Twitter is wiping the floor with Google, Bing and the rest.

Facebook has a terrific new idea. They’re going to offer a $50 ad credit to small business owners to help them increase sales. Isn’t that nice of them?

Of course, it does sound vaguely familiar. . . like maybe I’ve seen the same offer but with a Google Adwords logo attached? Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s current COO used to cash paychecks from Google, but I’m sure that’s a coincidence.

Speaking to USA Today, Sandberg said,

“My dream is really simple. I think every small business should … be using Facebook. We’re not going to stop until all of them are using it to grow their business.”

Not that there’s anything in it for Facebook, mind you. It’s a purely humanitarian gesture.

E-mail is one of those Internet marketing elements that creates a lot of conversation. That conversation not only takes place with customers who receive e-mails but also amongst marketers who wonder as to the viability of e-mail for the future.

E-mail marketing provider AWeber asked one of the most important groups with regard to the future of e-mail: teenagers. Most immediately assume (remember to never assume because of the potential consequences) that teens have no interest or even understanding of e-mail. On some levels that may be true but from the findings it looks like they are not ready to dismiss it both now or for the future.

Here is a preview of the infographic outlining their findings. Click through to see the rest.

Continue Reading…

British MPs (Members of Parliament) have been questioning officials from BlackBerry, Facebook and Twitter regarding the role of social media in both enabling and fueling four nights of riots that occurred in London in August.

It already feels like those riots, in which 5 people were killed and many London shops were looted and damaged happened much longer ago than August 6th. In an attempt to determine just what role social media played in these events, the British Parliament is raising many questions regarding social media and social unrest.

Yahoo News reports

The makers of BlackBerry admitted Thursday social media could be used for “malicious purposes” but the vast majority of users were law-abiding, during a grilling by British lawmakers on August’s riots.

Monitoring social media is an important aspect of any marketing / PR / sales efforts in the Internet age. Folks have gotten used to ways of online listening that provide information about Facebook, Twitter, blogs and more. The missing ingredient has been the new kid on the block, Google+.

That is until today. Google has announced the release of its first API for Google+. The Google+ blog reports

The Google+ project brings the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. The Google+ platform brings that nuance and richness to all of the web. We started with Google’s own products, added the +1 button for site owners and content publishers, and introduced games from a handful of partners. That’s just the beginning though — we want every one of you who builds applications to be able to include rich sharing, identity, and conversations in your app. Today, we’re taking the next step on that journey by launching the first of the Google+ APIs.